page_title: Château de Châteaubriant
section_title: Middle Ages
hierarchical_section_title: Château de Châteaubriant / History / Middle Ages
caption_attribution_description: This file was uploaded with Commonist. Français&#160;: Château de Châteaubriant, Loire-Atlantique. This building is classé au titre des Monuments Historiques. It is indexed in the Base Mérimée, a database of architectural heritage maintained by the French Ministry of Culture,&#160;under the references IA44000084 and PA00108582 . беларуская (тарашкевіца)‎&#160;| বাংলা&#160;| brezhoneg&#160;| català&#160;| Deutsch&#160;| Ελληνικά&#160;| English&#160;| Esperanto&#160;| español&#160;| euskara&#160;| suomi&#160;| français&#160;| magyar&#160;| italiano&#160;| 日本語&#160;| македонски&#160;| Nederlands&#160;| português&#160;| português do Brasil&#160;| română&#160;| русский&#160;| sicilianu&#160;| svenska&#160;| українська&#160;| +/− This image was uploaded as part of Wiki Loves Monuments 2012. Afrikaans&#160;| Alemannisch&#160;| العربية&#160;| جازايرية&#160;| azərbaycanca&#160;| Bikol Central&#160;| беларуская&#160;| беларуская (тарашкевіца)‎&#160;| български&#160;| বাংলা&#160;| brezhoneg&#160;| català&#160;| čeština&#160;| Cymraeg&#160;| dansk&#160;| Deutsch&#160;| Zazaki&#160;| Ελληνικά&#160;| English&#160;| Esperanto&#160;| español&#160;| eesti&#160;| euskara&#160;| فارسی&#160;| suomi&#160;| français&#160;| Frysk&#160;| Gaeilge&#160;| galego&#160;| עברית&#160;| हिन्दी&#160;| hrvatski&#160;| magyar&#160;| հայերեն&#160;| Bahasa Indonesia&#160;| Ido&#160;| italiano&#160;| 日本語&#160;| ქართული&#160;| 한국어&#160;| Кыргызча&#160;| Lëtzebuergesch&#160;| latviešu&#160;| Malagasy&#160;| македонски&#160;| മലയാളം&#160;| Bahasa Melayu&#160;| Malti&#160;| norsk bokmål&#160;| नेपाली&#160;| Nederlands&#160;| norsk nynorsk&#160;| norsk&#160;| polski&#160;| português&#160;| português do Brasil&#160;| română&#160;| русский&#160;| sicilianu&#160;| davvisámegiella&#160;| slovenčina&#160;| slovenščina&#160;| shqip&#160;| српски / srpski&#160;| svenska&#160;| ไทย&#160;| Tagalog&#160;| Türkçe&#160;| українська&#160;| اردو&#160;| 中文&#160;| 中文（中国大陆）‎&#160;| 中文（简体）‎&#160;| 中文（繁體）‎&#160;| 中文（香港）‎&#160;| 中文（台灣）‎&#160;| +/−
context_page_description: The Château de Châteaubriant is a medieval castle strongly modified during the Renaissance, located in the commune of Châteaubriant in the Loire-Atlantique département of France. The original castle was founded in the 11th century on the eastern border of Brittany and, such as the fortresses in Vitré, Fougères, Ancenis and Clisson, it was defending the duchy against Anjou and the Kingdom of France.
  The castle was renovated several times during the Middle Ages and the town of Châteaubriant developed at its side. During the Mad War, the castle was seized by the French after a siege. The keep and the halls, partially destroyed, were renovated in the flamboyant style. Eventually, during the 16th century, the château obtained its definitive appearance when the new Renaissance palace was built against the medieval enceinte.
  After the French Revolution, the château was sold and divided several times, and was finally transformed into an administrative centre, with the seat of the sous-préfecture, a court and a police station. All these offices closed down after 1970, and nowadays the château is partly opened to visitors.
context_section_description: The castle is first mentioned between 1030 and 1042 but it was founded earlier, at the beginning of the 11th century. It was first built by Brient, an envoy of the count of Rennes, to create an outpost in the Pays de la Mée. This region around Châteaubriant was then a buffer zone between the counties of Rennes, Nantes and Angers, but also a place for trading. The Béré fair was for example founded in 1049 in a suburb of the town. Brient is also responsible for the construction of the Béré church and priory, two major landmarks of medieval Châteaubriant.
  The first castle was a motte-and-bailey structure made of wood. It dominated the river Chère and the Rollard and had two concentric moats. One was dry, the other filled with water. It also had a big square keep, rebuilt in stone around 1100. Two halls and a chapel were added during the 12th century, the latter being completed in the 13th century. In the same period, Châteaubriant emerged as a town on the banks of the Rollard. City walls were built between the 13th and the 15th centuries.
  The upper-ward gatehouse, the curtain wall and most of the towers were built during the 13th century. The gatehouse still includes its two towers which were originally 25 meters high. The halls and the keep were rebuilt in the 14th century, and the lower-bailey gatehouse was completed before 1400.
  The early House of Châteaubriant, whose founder was Brient, became extinct in 1383. The barony of Châteaubriant was then inherited by the House of Dinan, another Breton noble family. The Dinans found themselves without male offspring in 1444. In 1486, the baroness of Châteaubriant, Françoise de Dinan, the last of her family, opposed Francis II of Brittany. She prepared the "Châteaubriant treaty" by which the  barons of Brittany asked the King of France to settle a Breton internal dispute. The treaty, which betrayed the authority of Francis II, was one of the reasons for the Mad War and showed the weakness of the Duchy of Brittany as a political entity. Brittany and France went to war, Breton castles were taken one after the other by the French. Châteaubriant was besieged in 1488 and surrendered after one week.
  At the end of the war, Françoise de Dinan had the castle restored and improved. As the old walls did not fit the new military exigences, a bastion was built. The keep and the halls, which also lost their defensive capacity, were opened by large windows. Inside, the baroness ordered new fireplaces in the Flamboyant style.
caption: The 13th-century gatehouse of the upper ward.
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